Snowed In - To Pay or Not to Pay?

We know that some of our readers live in the North of England/ Scotland and may think that we soppy southerners are moaning about nothing when it comes to the snow. Perhaps we should get a shovel and get on with it!

However, it is suggested that 20 per cent of the workforce did not attend work last time we had heavy snowfall in early 2009 for a variety of reasons. School and childcare providers closed and in some cases it was simply unsafe or impossible to travel. Others may have been able to attend work but thought better of it as they fancied a day off!

As an employer you will be considering if you pay your employees for the days they did not attend work. After all it was an absence...

We have done some research into this topic and I wish there was a "one size fits all" answer but there isn't.

Essentially, if you want to follow your employment contract then if the employer:

"Shuts down" the work place and communicates to the employees that they were not needed for work then the employer must pay the individuals concerned who were due to work on that day.

Remains open and some individuals come into work and some don't then you need to look on a case by case basis. So, for example if the trains were not running then you may say that this is "unpaid leave" and you could deduct the payment from their salary, or as an alternative offer the employee the opportunity to take it as annual leave. If the employee was unable to attend work because their care provider for children or relatives was not operating, the employee has the right to time off for dependents. This would also be unpaid.

We are HR people so we naturally want to do what is right for both sides but we do urge employers to consider the following when deciding which route to take on this topic:

Key Questions For Employers to think about:

The working environment is bad enough at the moment so why harm moral by being frugal?

If this snow fall only happens every 20 years can you afford to take a small hit?

Why not invite people that couldn't make it to make up the time over the next month? An hour here and there is probably manageable for them.